The Parkinson's Drug Trial: A Miracle Cure? • 2019

59:07

Two procedures so formidable, they would not have been attempted even a few years ago. Surgical teams at the Queen Elizabeth are constantly pushing the limits of what is possible. But despite state-of-the-art diagnostic scanning, sometimes cancer surgeons don't know exactly what they are up against until they open the patient up on the operating table. Even with the most meticulous planning, sometimes they must resort to taking critical decisions live in the theatre. 74-year-old Jasmine Harkness has been referred to the specialist sarcoma unit with a vast tumour in her abdomen, weighing more than three stone - a third of her total body weight. It is consuming her, displacing organs including her stomach and liver. Unless it can be removed, she has just four weeks to live. Sarcoma specialists Sam Ford and Professor David Gourevitch can't be sure whether they will be able to save Jasmine until they open her up and inspect her anatomy. Such is the risk of this surgery - five years ago they would not have embarked on this intervention. Sue Sinclair, lead anaesthetist and matriarch of theatre, keeps the others in check - working alongside them as they battle to detach the tumour from Jasmine's organs and blood vessels, and remove it intact. Whenever it presses heavily on vital blood vessels, Jasmine's blood pressure plummets, placing her life in grave danger. It will take unwavering focus to keep her alive. The tumour has grown so invasively that it has crushed and displaced Jasmine's internal organs. Sam and David have a puzzle on their hands to identify what and where everything is. At times, dark humour is the only way to release the tension as they grapple with blood, guts and mind-boggling complexity.

S1E2 • Surgeons: At the Edge of Life • 2018 • Health

52:01

In the summer of 1950 fear gripped the residents of Wytheville, Virginia. Movie theaters shut down, baseball games were cancelled and panicky parents kept their children indoors — anything to keep them safe from an invisible invader. Outsiders sped through town with their windows rolled up and bandanas covering their faces. The ones who couldn't escape the perpetrator were left paralyzed, and some died in the wake of the devastating and contagious virus. Polio had struck in Wytheville. The town was in the midst of a full-blown epidemic. That year alone, more than 33,000 Americans fell victim — half of them under the age of ten.

2009 • Health

89:52

Delve into the digestive system with this lighthearted and informative documentary that demystifies the role gut health plays in our overall well-being.

2024 • Health

29:00

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell fell off his bike in June 2023. Alone on a country road with broken bones, he feared for his life and felt he'd had a lucky escape when help came his way. But six weeks after his accident, just as he was getting ready to go back to work, he had a seizure. He was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, turning his world as he knew it upside down. In this film, Glenn shares his experience of living with a brain tumour and explores why treatments for the condition have barely changed in many years. Early in his cancer journey, Glenn realised there was nothing he could do to change his health outcomes, but the one thing he could do was tell his story. Glenn says, 'It's a golden rule as a journalist not to become the story, but in this case, I just felt that it was worth sharing my personal experience as a way of putting a bit of a spotlight on this most difficult of cancers.' Supported by family, friends and colleagues, Glenn has documented his story during what has been a very difficult year of gruelling treatment and endless uncertainty. Following surgery, which saw his malignant tumour removed successfully, he embarked on radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He also lives with the constant threat of seizures and has made the decision to share some very personal footage filmed while in the midst of one such episode. Brain cancer is the biggest cancer killer of people under 40. Every day, 33 people in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour. Motivated by his own shortened lifespan and the stories of friends made in the cancer community, Glenn has spent a huge amount of time and energy in the past year raising awareness of this often-misunderstood cancer. In this intimate film, we see the committed newsman in a different light as he faces down his mortality and considers what matters most in life. Sitting on the beach at Machir Bay on Islay – the island he hails from – he reflects: 'You realise what really matters, and maybe what doesn't quite so much. What really matters is family and friends and good times and making memories, and what maybe doesn't matter is the hubbub of everyday life, work and chores. I think being told you've got a life-limiting condition really puts that into perspective.'

2024 • Health

22:46

The home fitness revolution has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry. Are home workouts a healthy habit - or just hype?

S2E8 • History 101 • 2022 • Health

45:02

Youth may be wasted on the young, but luckily, you can buy it back. People are using everything from face-lifts to second skin tech to keep their youthful advantage. However, with so many unproven therapies on the market, how many actually work?

S1E2 • A User's Guide to Cheating Death • 2017 • Health